Apparatuses and methods for reducing switching jitter

ABSTRACT

Described are apparatuses and methods for reducing channel physical layer (C-PHY) switching jitter. An apparatus may include a pattern dependent delay circuit to detect a switching pattern of at least three data signals on respective wires and adaptively change delays of the at least three data signals based on the switching pattern. The apparatus may further include a transmitter, coupled to the pattern dependent delay circuit, to transmit the at least three data signals.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to electronic circuits. Moreparticularly but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates toapparatuses and methods for reducing switching jitter in data circuits.

BACKGROUND

Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance (MIPI®) channelphysical layer (C-PHY) is a high-speed serial interface specification toprovide high throughput performance over bandwidth limited channels forconnecting to peripherals, including displays and cameras. C-PHY isbased on 3-phase symbol encoding technology for delivering high bits persymbol (e.g., 2.28 bits per symbol) over a set of three wires. C-PHY mayincrease the data rate by encoding and decoding the data using threestates of wires, e.g., low, mid, and high. C-PHY also may offer theadvantage of jitter tracking. For example, only cycle-to-cycle jittermay affect the receiver since the clock is embedded in every cycle ofdata transaction. However, C-PHY exhibits the intrinsic jitter naturallyassociated with switching among different switching stages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the disclosure will be understood more fully from thedetailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings ofvarious embodiments of the disclosure, which, however, should not betaken to limit the disclosure to the specific embodiments, but are forexplanation and understanding only.

FIG. 1 is an example system architecture diagram for reducing switchingjitter, incorporating aspects of the present disclosure, in accordancewith various embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of various switching patterns,incorporating aspects of the present disclosure, in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example device for reducingswitching jitter, incorporating aspects of the present disclosure, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an example switching jitter reductionprocess executable by an example apparatus incorporating aspects of thepresent disclosure, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a set of plots showing example waveforms associated withswitching jitter reduction at the transmitter, incorporating aspects ofthe present disclosure, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a set of plots showing example waveforms associated withswitching jitter reduction at the channel, incorporating aspects of thepresent disclosure, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram that illustrates an example computer devicesuitable for practicing the disclosed embodiments, in accordance withvarious embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments describe apparatuses and methods for reducing switchingjitter. In one embodiment, an apparatus may include a pattern dependentdelay circuit to detect a switching pattern of at least three datasignals on respective wires and adaptively change delays of the at leastthree data signals based on the detected switching pattern. Theapparatus may further include a transmitter, coupled to the patterndependent delay circuit, to transmit the at least three data signals.Other technical effects will be evident from various embodimentsdescribed here.

In the following description, numerous details are discussed to providea more thorough explanation of embodiments of the present disclosure. Itwill be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that embodimentsof the present disclosure may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shownin block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoidobscuring embodiments of the present disclosure.

Note that in the corresponding drawings of the embodiments, signals arerepresented with lines. Some lines may be thicker, to indicate moreconstituent signal paths, and/or have arrows at one or more ends, toindicate primary information flow direction. Such indications are notintended to be limiting. Rather, the lines are used in connection withone or more exemplary embodiments to facilitate easier understanding ofa circuit or a logical unit. Any represented signal, as dictated bydesign needs or preferences, may actually comprise one or more signalsthat may travel in either direction and may be implemented with anysuitable type of signal scheme.

Throughout the specification, and in the claims, the term “connected”means a direct electrical connection between the things that areconnected, without any intermediary devices. The term “coupled” meanseither a direct electrical connection between the things that areconnected or an indirect connection through one or more passive oractive intermediary devices. The term “circuit” means one or morepassive and/or active components that are arranged to cooperate with oneanother to provide a desired function. The term “signal” means at leastone current signal, voltage signal, or data/clock signal. The meaning of“a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references. The meaning of “in”includes “in” and “on.”

The terms “substantially,” “close,” “approximately,” “near,” and “about”generally refer to being within +/−20% of a target value. The term“scaling” generally refers to converting a design (schematic and layout)from one process technology to another process technology. The term“scaling” generally also refers to downsizing layout and devices withinthe same technology node. The term “scaling” may also refer to adjusting(e.g., slowing down) a signal frequency relative to another parameter,for example, power supply level.

Unless otherwise specified, the use of the ordinal adjectives “first,”“second,” “third,” etc., to describe a common object merely indicatethat different instances of like objects are being referred to, and arenot intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a givensequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any othermanner.

For purposes of the embodiments, the transistors are metal oxidesemiconductor (MOS) transistors, which include drain, source, gate, andbulk terminals. The transistors also include Tri-Gate and FinFettransistors, Gate All Around Cylindrical Transistors, or other devicesimplementing transistor functionality, like carbon nano tubes orspintronic devices. Source and drain terminals may be identicalterminals and are interchangeably used herein. Those skilled in the artwill appreciate that other transistors, for example, bipolar junctiontransistors (BJT) may be used without departing from the scope of thedisclosure. The term “MN” indicates an n-type transistor (e.g., NMOS,NPN BJT, etc.), and the term “MP” indicates a p-type transistor (e.g.,PMOS, PNP BJT, etc.).

FIG. 1 illustrates a computing system 100 for reducing switching jitter,incorporating aspects of the present disclosure, in accordance withvarious embodiments. In one embodiment, computing system 100 includesdevice 110 having transmitter (Tx) 114, device 120 having receiver (Rx)122, and three transmission lines (TLs) TL1-TL3 forming a point-to-pointlane interconnect between devices 110 and 120. In embodiments, device110 may include pattern dependent delay circuit (PDDC) 112, which mayreceive three signals A, B, and C, and pass a delayed version of thethree signals to the Tx 114. The delay provided by the PDDC 112 maydepend on the detected switch pattern of the three signals.

In various embodiments, Tx 114 may transmit the three signals A, B, andC (e.g., the delayed version of the three signals A, B, and C asreceived from the PDDC 112) over the respective transmission lines TL1,TL2, and TL3 to Rx 122. The voltage levels on the three TLs (i.e., TL1,TL2, and TL3) at the input of Rx 122 are V_(A), V_(B), and V_(C),respectively. Here, voltage levels V_(A), V_(B), and V_(C) are alsointerchangeably referred to as signals A, B, and C, respectively.

In embodiments, computing system 100 may be compatible with the C-PHYspecification, which defines a high-speed, rate-efficient PHY, suitedfor mobile applications where channel rate limitations are a factor. Inembodiments, 3-phase symbol encoding technology may be used by devices110 and 120 to deliver approximately 2.28 bits per symbol over thethree-wire transmission lines TL1-TL3. In embodiments, Tx 114 and Rx 122may communicate at a rate of about 2.5 giga-symbols per second. Althoughembodiments herein are described with reference to C-PHY signaling, itwill be apparent that the embodiments may be used with any suitablecommunication protocol that employs three or more transmission lines andthree or more logic states.

In some embodiments, device 110 may include a camera or a display, anddevice 120 may be a host mobile device. In embodiments, device 110 maybe a master, and device 120 may be a slave in a synchronous connectionbetween master and slave. Device 110 may provide the high-speed datasignals and may be the main data source from which device 120 mayreceive the data signals (e.g., the main data sink).

The direction of data communication from device 110 to device 120 may bedenoted as the forward direction. In some embodiments, thepoint-to-point lane interconnect between devices 110 and 120 may be abi-directional lane. The point-to-point lane interconnect betweendevices 110 and 120 may provide a high-speed signaling mode forfast-data traffic, e.g., from device 110 to device 120. Further, thepoint-to-point lane interconnect between devices 110 and 120 may providea low-power signaling mode for control purposes, e.g., sending controlsignals from device 120 to device 110. In some embodiments, thepoint-to-point lane interconnect between devices 110 and 120 may be aunidirectional lane, which only supports communication in the forwarddirection.

In embodiments, PDDC 112 may be used to reduce the intrinsic switchjitter associated with the three signals A, B, and C using a patterndependent delay (PDD) line technique before sending the signals to Tx114. In this way, the switching jitters at device 110 may be reduced;consequently, the eye margin may be improved at device 120.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating switching patterns 210, 212,220, 222, 230, 232, 240, 242, 250, and 252, incorporating aspects of thepresent disclosure, in accordance with various embodiments. Thoseelements of FIG. 2 having the same reference numbers (or names) as theelements of any other figure can operate or function in any mannersimilar to that described, but are not limited to such. So as not toobscure the embodiments, elements and features discussed previously maynot be repeated.

In embodiments, data may be encoded and decoded using three states ofthe signals A, B, and C, e.g., low, mid, and high, that are driven onrespective wires. For example, two of the three wires may be driven toopposite levels, and the third wire may be terminated to a mid-level. Tosimplify clock recovery, clock timing may be encoded into each symbol,which requires the combination of voltages driven onto the wires to bechanged at every symbol.

When three wires each carry different voltages, there are six possiblewire states wherein a wire state is the combination of signal levelsdriven on the three lines of a lane. During a high-speed unit interval(UI), one of the six possible wire states is driven onto a lane, andeach of the three lines of the lane is driven to one of three signallevels, e.g., low, mid, and high. In embodiments, each of the threelines in a lane may be driven to a different signal level at a giventime. Therefore, there may be six possible wire states with a differentsignal level on each of the three lines simultaneously. From any givenwire state, there may be five possible transitions to the next wirestate.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the starting wire statefor signals A, B, and C is high, mid, and low, respectively. Forexample, voltages on signals A, B, and C may be ¾ V, ½ V, and ¼ V,respectively, wherein V may represent a unit of voltage. In each unitinterval (UI), voltages of signals A, B, and C may toggle between ¾ V, ½V, and ¼ V.

Without using PDDC 112 in connection with FIG. 1, the five possibletransitions to the next wire state are illustrated by patterns 210, 220,230, 240, and 250 in FIG. 2. In pattern 210, the next wire state becomeshigh, low, and mid for A, B, and C, respectively. In pattern 220, thenext wire state becomes mid, high, and low for A, B, and C,respectively. In pattern 230, the next wire state becomes low, mid, andhigh for A, B, and C, respectively. In pattern 240, the next wire statebecomes mid, low, and high for A, B, and C, respectively. In pattern250, the next wire state becomes low, high, and mid for A, B, and C,respectively.

In various embodiments, patterns 212, 222, 232, 242, and 252 illustratethe five possible transitions to the next wire state when the PDDC 112is used. As can be seen, patterns 210, 220, and 230 are not associatedwith intrinsic switching jitters. Therefore, signals A, B, and C maypass through PDDC 112 in connection with FIG. 1 without introducing anydelay for any signal. The patterns of 212, 222, and 232 thus remainsubstantially the same as the patterns of 210, 220, and 230,respectively, after passing through PDDC 112 in connection with FIG. 1.

However, patterns 240 and 250 come with intrinsic switching jitters asshown. For example, in respect of pattern 240, the misalignment of AB,BC and CA switching will naturally introduce switching uncertainty ofAB, BC and CA. If the driver driving the signals has a slower slew rate,switching jitters may even get amplified. In embodiments, PDDC 112 mayintroduce pattern dependent delays to signals A, B, and C to reduceswitching jitters. In the case of pattern 240, a short delay may beintroduced to signal A, a medium delay may be introduced to signal B,and a long delay may be introduced to signal C. In the case of pattern250, appropriate delays with increased length may be introduced tosignals C, A, and B so that the switching jitter may be reduced. Asshown, after introducing appropriate delays for signals A, B, and C byPDDC 112, the switching patterns 242 and 252 have substantially reducedtheir respective switching jitter.

In other embodiments, the starting wire states for signals A, B, and Cmay differ from what are shown in FIG. 2, but switching jitters maystill be present in some switching patterns, e.g., when each signalswitches to a different voltage level from its prior voltage level.Specifically, signals A, B, and C may switch from (high, low, mid) to(mid, high, low), from (high, low, mid) to (low, mid, high), from (mid,low, high) to (high, mid, low), from (mid, low, high) to (low, high,mid), from (mid, high, low) to (high, low, mid), from (mid, high, low)to (low, mid, high), from (low, high, mid) to (high, mid, low), from(low, high, mid) to (mid, low, high), from (low, mid, high) to (high,low, mid), or from (low, mid, high) to (mid, high, low). In these cases,switching jitters may be reduced after applying pattern dependentdelays, e.g., by PDDC 112 in connection with FIG. 1. Enhanced with theteaching in this disclosure, switching jitters may be reduced beforetransmitting the data to a lane (e.g., TL1-TL3), and the eye margin maybe further opened for the receiver.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example device for reducing C-PHYswitching jitter, incorporating aspects of the present disclosure, inaccordance with various embodiments. Those elements of FIG. 3 having thesame reference numbers (or names) as the elements of any other figurecan operate or function in any manner similar to that described, but arenot limited to such. So as not to obscure the embodiments, elements andfeatures discussed previously may not be repeated.

In embodiments, pattern dependent delay circuit (PDDC) 300 may includepattern detector 310 to detect the switching pattern associated withsignals A, B, and C. Pattern detector 310 may detect the logic stateassociated with each of signals A, B, or C. As an example, logic statesof high, mid, and low may be associated with voltages of ¾ V, ½ V, and ¼V, respectively, wherein V may represent a unit of voltage. Inembodiments, signals A, B, or C each may have at least three differentlogic states, such as high, mid, and low. A signal may switch from onelogic state to another.

Pattern detector 310 may detect a switching pattern of at least threedata signals on respective wires. In some embodiments, pattern detector310 may have memory of the prior logic state on respective wires andknowledge of the current logic state. Thus, pattern detector 310 maydetect the switching pattern based on the prior logic state and thecurrent logic state of the data signals. As an example, in connectionwith FIG. 2, pattern detector 310 may detect pattern 240 based on theprior logic state (high, mid, low) and the current logic state (mid,low, high) of signals A, B, and C.

PDDC 300 may also include delay module 330 to change the delays ofsignals A, B, and C based on the detected switching pattern. In someembodiments, pattern detector 310 may send one or more control signalsto delay module 330 for changing the delays of signals A, B, and C whenpattern detector 310 detects that the signals each are undergoing astate transition during a same time period. As an example, in connectionwith FIG. 2, pattern detector 310 may detect that each signal in pattern250 is undergoing a state transition, e.g., signal A switches from highto low, signal B switches from mid to high, and signal C switches fromlow to mid. In this case, the control signals may actuate delay module330 to cause different delays for each of the signals.

In embodiments, delay module 330 may include a number of delaycontrollers (DC), such as DCs 331, 333, and 335. The delay module mayalso include a number of samplers, such as samplers 332, 334, and 336,which are coupled to DCs 331, 333, and 335, respectively. Inembodiments, the DCs 331, 333, and 335 may be paired with respectivesamplers 332, 334, or 336 to cause delay on a respective wire. As anexample, DC 331 may receive a common clock signal from clock 320, andadd a delay to the clock signal, e.g., based on the control signalreceived from pattern detector 310. Subsequently, the delayed clocksignal may control sampler 332 to sample data later in time, thus addingdelay on signal A.

In embodiments, PDDC 300 may adaptively change the delays of signals A,B, and C based on the detected switching pattern. In embodiments, PDDC300 may reduce switching jitters associated with some switching pattern,such as pattern 240 or 250 in connection with FIG. 2. In embodiments,data signals with reduced switching jitters may be further sent bytransmitters, such as Tx 342, Tx 344, or Tx 346, to a receiver. Inembodiments, PDDC 300 may be used to reduce C-PHY switching jitters. Inthose cases, Tx 342, Tx 344, and Tx 346 may be MIPI C-PHY complianttransmitters.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an example C-PHY switching jitter reductionprocess executable by an example apparatus incorporating aspects of thepresent disclosure, in accordance with various embodiments. As shown,process 400 may be performed by a device with any one structuredisclosed in FIG. 1 or 3 to implement one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

In embodiments, at block 410 of the process 400, a switching pattern ofa plurality of data signals on respective wires may be detected, e.g.,by pattern detector 310. In embodiments, a data signal may have at leastthree logic states, such as expressed in at least three differentvoltage levels. Accordingly, the logic state of the data signal may bedetected based on the voltage level. In embodiments, a switching patternbased on a prior logic state and a current logic state of the pluralityof data signals may be detected, for example, as described in connectionwith FIG. 2.

Next, at block 420, delays on one or more of the plurality of datasignals may be introduced using the pattern dependent delay linetechnique based on the detected switching pattern, e.g., by delay module330. In some embodiments, the detected switching pattern may includeeach data signal switching to a different logic state from its priorlogic state. In this case, appropriate delays may be introduced to thedata signals based on the detected switching pattern to reduce switchingjitters. As an example, different delay lengths may be introduced todifferent signals. Resultantly, the switching timing for the pluralityof data signals may be adjusted based on the delays so that theswitching jitter may be reduced.

Next, at block 430, the plurality of data signals may be transmitted,e.g., by Tx 342, Tx 344, and Tx 346. In this way, the switching jittersat the sender may be reduced; consequently, the eye margin may beimproved at the receiver side.

FIG. 5 is a set of plots showing example waveforms associated with C-PHYswitching jitter reduction at the transmitter, incorporating aspects ofthe present disclosure, in accordance with various embodiments. Plot 510shows example waveforms measured at a transmitter without applyingpattern dependent delays, while plot 520 shows example waveformsmeasured at the transmitter after applying pattern dependent delays.

In this embodiment, a total pad capacitance (Cpad) of about 3 pico farad(pf) and an operating frequency of 2.5 gigasample-per-second (Gsps) areused to analyze eye margin. In this case, the channel margin is about0.2 unit interval (UI) (e.g., about 80 petaseconds (ps)), and thetransmitter timing budget is about 0.3 UI (e.g., about 120 ps). Asshown, more than 0.15 UI of total margin is wasted due to intrinsicswitching jitter 512 in plot 510. On the other side, switching jitter522 in plot 520 is minimized after applying pattern dependent delays inthe transmitter.

FIG. 6 is a set of plots showing example waveforms associated with C-PHYswitching jitter reduction at the channel, incorporating aspects of thepresent disclosure, in accordance with various embodiments. Inembodiments, plots 610 and 620 show waveforms measured for C-PHYsignaling arrived at the receiver through a lossy channel. The basicunit of channel for C-PHY includes a set of three wires.

Plot 610 shows example waveforms measured at a channel without applyingpattern dependent delays, while plot 620 shows example waveformsmeasured at the channel after applying pattern dependent delays. Thus,plot 610 is the baseline reads without PDD, while plot 620 incorporatesaspects of the present disclosure for switching jitter reduction. Inthis embodiment, the differential channel loss used for plots 610 and620 is about −2.4 decibel (dB).

In embodiments, intrinsic switching jitters may be naturally amplifiedthrough the channel, and eye margin may be degraded significantly sincethe channel loss is operated as a low pass filter. Therefore, plot 610shows a degraded eye margin 612. If the switching timing for some knownpatterns as discussed above are adjusted based on PDD, switching jittersfrom the transmitter may be minimized so that eye margin may be improveddramatically at the receiver. Hence, plot 620 shows the platform marginimprovement with PDD, indicated by the improved eye margin 622.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram that illustrates an example computer system700 suitable for practicing the disclosed embodiments with any of thedesign principles described with reference to FIGS. 1-6, in accordancewith various embodiments. In one embodiment, computing system 700represents a mobile computing device, such as a computing tablet, amobile phone or smartphone, a wireless-enabled e-reader, or anotherwireless mobile device. It will be understood that certain componentsare shown generally, and not all components of such a device are shownin computing system 700.

As shown, computer system 700 may include a power management 720; anumber of processors or processor cores 710; a system memory 730; anon-volatile memory (NVM)/storage 740 having processor-readable andprocessor-executable instructions 780 stored therein; an I/O controller750 having at least one structure for reducing switching jitter, likecircuit 300 or PDDC 112; and a communication interface 760. For thepurpose of this application, including the claims, the terms “processor”and “processor cores” may be considered synonymous, unless the contextclearly requires otherwise. Those elements of FIG. 7 having the samereference numbers (or names) as the elements of any other figure canoperate or function in any manner similar to that described, but are notlimited to such.

In one embodiment, processors 710 may include one or more physicaldevices, such as microprocessors, application processors,microcontrollers, programmable logic devices, or other processing means.The processing operations performed by processors 710 may include theexecution of an operating platform or operating system on whichapplications and/or device functions are executed. The processingoperations may include operations related to input/output (I/O) with ahuman user or with other devices, operations related to powermanagement, and/or operations related to connecting the computing system700 to another device. The processing operations may also includeoperations related to audio I/O and/or display I/O.

The one or more NVM/storage 740 and/or the system memory 730 maycomprise a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage device(such as a diskette, hard drive, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM),hardware storage unit, flash memory, phase change memory (PCM),solid-state drive (SSD) memory, and so forth). Instructions 780 storedin the NVM/storage 740 and/or the system memory 730 may be executable byone or more of the processors 710. Instructions 780 may containparticular instructions to enable or disable the switching jitterreduction operations as illustrated in connection with FIG. 4.

Computer system 700 may also include input/output devices (not shown)coupled to computer system 700 via I/O controller 750. I/O controller750 illustrates a connection point for additional devices that connectto computing system 700 through which a user might interact with thesystem. For example, various devices that may be coupled to the computersystem 700 via I/O controller 750 may include microphone devices,speaker or stereo systems, video systems or other display devices,keyboard or keypad devices, or other I/O devices for use with specificapplications such as card readers or other devices. In variousembodiments, I/O controller 750 may include a high-speed serialinterface compatible with the C-PHY specification, which may providehigh throughput performance over bandwidth limited channels forconnecting to peripherals, including displays and cameras. In thoseembodiments, I/O controller 750 may include circuits like PDDC 112 inconnection with FIG. 1 or circuit 300 in connection with FIG. 3.Therefore, C-PHY intrinsic switching jitter may be reduced using patterndependent delay line techniques as discussed in this disclosure.

In embodiments, communication interface 760 may provide an interface forcomputing system 700 to communicate over one or more network(s) and/orwith any other suitable device. Communication interface 760 may includeany suitable hardware and/or firmware, such as a network adapter, one ormore antennas, wireless interface(s), and so forth. In variousembodiments, communication interface 760 may include an interface forcomputing system 700 to use near field communication (NFC), opticalcommunications, or other similar technologies to communicate directly(e.g., without an intermediary) with another device. In variousembodiments, communication interface 760 may interoperate with radiocommunications technologies such as, for example, Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Long Term Evolution (LTE), WiFi, Bluetooth®, Zigbee, and the like.

The various elements of FIG. 7 may be coupled to each other via a systembus 770, which represents one or more buses. In the case of multiplebuses, they may be bridged by one or more bus bridges (not shown). Datamay pass through the system bus 770 through the I/O controller 750, forexample, between an output terminal and the processors 710.

System memory 730 and NVM/storage 740 may be employed to store a workingcopy and a permanent copy of the programming instructions implementingone or more operating systems, firmware modules or drivers,applications, and so forth, herein collectively denoted as instructions780. In embodiments, instructions 780 may include logic for reducingC-PHY switching jitters using pattern dependent delay line techniquesdescribed in this disclosure. The permanent copy of the programminginstructions may be placed into permanent storage in the factory, or inthe field, via, for example, a distribution medium (not shown), such asa compact disc (CD), or through the communication interface 760 (from adistribution server (not shown)).

In some embodiments, at least one of the processor(s) 710 may bepackaged together with I/O controller 750. In some embodiments, at leastone of the processor(s) 710 may be packaged together with I/O controller750 having structures 112/300 to form a System in Package (SiP). In someembodiments, at least one of the processor(s) 710 may be integrated onthe same die with I/O controller 750 having structures 112/300. In someembodiments, at least one of the processor(s) 710 may be integrated onthe same die with I/O controller 750 having structures 112/300 to form aSystem on Chip (SoC).

According to various embodiments, one or more of the depicted componentsof the system 700 and/or other element(s) may include a keyboard, LCDscreen, non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, graphics processor,application processor, speakers, or other associated mobile deviceelements, including a camera. The remaining constitution of the variouselements of the computer system 700 is known, and accordingly will notbe further described in detail.

The above description of illustrated embodiments, including what isdescribed in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to belimited to the precise forms disclosed. While specific embodiments andexamples are described herein for illustrative purposes, variousmodifications are possible. For example, the configuration andconnection of certain elements in various embodiments that have beendescribed above may be modified without departing from the teachings inconnection with FIGS. 1-7. These and other modifications can be made inlight of the above detailed description. The terms used in the followingclaims should not be construed to be limited to the specific embodimentsdisclosed in the specification.

Reference in the specification to “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,”“some embodiments,” or “other embodiments” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but notnecessarily all embodiments. The various appearances of “an embodiment,”“one embodiment,” or “some embodiments” are not necessarily allreferring to the same embodiments. If the specification states acomponent, feature, structure, or characteristic “may,” “might,” or“could” be included, that particular component, feature, structure, orcharacteristic is not required to be included. If the specification orclaim refers to “a” or “an” element, that does not mean there is alwaysonly one of the elements. If the specification or claims refer to “anadditional” element, that does not preclude there being more than one ofthe additional element.

Furthermore, the particular features, structures, functions, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments. For example, a first embodiment may be combined with asecond embodiment anywhere the particular features, structures,functions, or characteristics associated with the two embodiments arenot mutually exclusive.

While the disclosure has been described in conjunction with specificembodiments thereof, many alternatives, modifications, and variations ofsuch embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artin light of the foregoing description. For example, other memoryarchitectures, e.g., dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), may use theembodiments discussed. The embodiments of the disclosure are intended toembrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as to fallwithin the broad scope of the appended claims.

In addition, well-known power/ground connections to integrated circuit(IC) chips and other components may or may not be shown within thepresented figures, for simplicity of illustration and discussion, and soas not to obscure the disclosure. Further, arrangements may be shown inblock diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the disclosure, and alsoin view of the fact that specifics with respect to the implementation ofsuch block diagram arrangements are highly dependent upon the platformwithin which the present disclosure is to be implemented (i.e., suchspecifics should be well within the purview of one skilled in the art).Where specific details (e.g., circuits) are set forth in order todescribe example embodiments of the disclosure, it should be apparent toone skilled in the art that the disclosure can be practiced without, orwith variation of, these specific details. The description is thus to beregarded as illustrative instead of limiting.

The following examples pertain to further embodiments. Specifics in theexamples may be used anywhere in one or more embodiments. All optionalfeatures of the apparatus described herein may also be implemented withrespect to a method or process.

Example 1 is an apparatus for reducing switching jitter, which mayinclude a pattern dependent delay circuit. The pattern dependent delaycircuit may further include a pattern detector to detect a switchingpattern of at least three data signals on respective wires; and a delaymodule coupled to the pattern detector to adaptively change delays ofthe at least three data signals based on the detected switching pattern.Further, the apparatus may include a transmitter, coupled to the patterndependent delay circuit, to transmit the at least three data signals.

Example 2 may include the subject matter of Example 1, and may furtherspecify that individual data signals of the at least three data signalsswitch between at least three logic states.

Example 3 may include the subject matter of Example 2, and may furtherspecify that the at least three data signals are in different logicstates.

Example 4 may include any subject matter of Examples 1-3, and mayfurther specify the pattern detector is to detect the switching patternbased on a prior logic state and a current logic state of the at leastthree data signals.

Example 5 may include any subject matter of Examples 1-4, and mayfurther specify that the pattern detector is to send one or more controlsignals to the delay module to change the delays of the at least threedata signals when the pattern detector detects that the at least threedata signals are each undergoing a state transition during a same timeperiod.

Example 6 may include any subject matter of Examples 1-5, and mayfurther specify that the delay module is to cause different delays foreach of the at least three data signals.

Example 7 may include any subject matter of Examples 1-6, and mayfurther specify that the delay module includes a plurality of delaycontrollers and a plurality of samplers, wherein individual delaycontrollers are paired with individual samplers to cause delay ofrespective individual data signals of the at least three data signals.

Example 8 may include any subject matter of Examples 1-7, and mayfurther specify that the pattern dependent delay circuit is toadaptively change the delays of the at least three data signals beforethe transmitter transmits the at least three data signals to reduce aswitching jitter associated with the at least three data signals.

Example 9 may include any subject matter of Examples 1-8, and mayfurther specify that the pattern dependent delay circuit is to reduce aC-PHY switching jitter.

Example 10 may include any subject matter of Examples 1-9, and mayfurther specify that the transmitter is a mobile industry processorinterface (MIPI) C-PHY compliant transmitter.

Example 11 is a system for reducing switching jitter, which may includea processor and a controller coupled to the processor to output dataprocessed by the processor. The system may further include a transmittercoupled to the controller to transmit the data using at least three datasignals, wherein individual data signals of the at least three datasignals switch between at least three logic states; and a patterndependent delay circuit, coupled to the transmitter, to detect aswitching pattern of the at least three data signals and adaptivelyreduce a switching jitter based on the detected switching pattern.

Example 12 may include the subject matter of Example 11, and may furtherspecify that the pattern dependent delay circuit is to reduce a C-PHYswitching jitter by changing delays on the at least three data signalsbefore the transmitter transmits the at least three data signals.

Example 13 may include the subject matter of Example 11 or 12, and mayfurther specify that the transmitter is a MIPI® C-PHY complianttransmitter.

Example 14 is a method for reducing switching jitter, which may includedetecting a switching pattern of a plurality of data signals onrespective wires; causing a delay on one or more of the plurality ofdata signals based on the detected switching pattern; and transmittingthe plurality of data signals.

Example 15 may include the subject matter of Example 14, and may furtherspecify that the detecting comprises detecting a logic state ofindividual data signals of the plurality of data signals, wherein thelogic state is one of at least three possible logic states.

Example 16 may include the subject matter of Example 14 or 15, and mayfurther specify that the detecting comprises detecting the switchingpattern based on a prior logic state and a current logic state of theplurality of data signals.

Example 17 may include any subject matter of Examples 14-16, and mayfurther specify that the causing the delay is responsive to a detectionthat each of the plurality of data signals switches to a different logicstate from a prior logic state.

Example 18 may include any subject matter of Examples 14-17, and mayfurther specify that the causing comprises changing delays on each ofthe plurality of data signals based on the switching pattern

Example 19 may include any subject matter of Examples 14-18, and mayfurther specify that the causing comprises causing different delays oneach of the plurality of data signals based on the switching pattern.

Example 20 may include any subject matter of Examples 14-19, and mayfurther specify that the causing comprises reducing a C-PHY switchingjitter.

Example 21 may include the subject matter of Example 20, and may furtherspecify that the causing comprises reducing the C-PHY switching jitterby adjusting a switching timing for the plurality of data signals basedon the delay.

Example 22 may include any subject matter of Examples 14-21, and mayfurther specify that the transmitting comprises transmitting theplurality of data signals compliant with MIPI® C-PHY.

An abstract is provided that will allow the reader to ascertain thenature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract is submittedwith the understanding that it will not be used to limit the scope ormeaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated intothe detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment.

We claim:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a pattern dependent delay circuitincluding: a pattern detector to detect a switching pattern of at leastthree data signals on respective wires; and a delay module coupled tothe pattern detector to adaptively change delays of the at least threedata signals based on the detected switching pattern; and a transmitter,coupled to the pattern dependent delay circuit, to transmit the at leastthree data signals.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein individual datasignals of the at least three data signals switch between at least threelogic states.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least threedata signals are in different logic states.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein the pattern detector is to detect the switching pattern based ona prior logic state and a current logic state of the at least three datasignals.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pattern detector is tosend one or more control signals to the delay module to change thedelays of the at least three data signals when the pattern detectordetects that the at least three data signals are each undergoing a statetransition during a same time period.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the delay module is to cause different delays for each of the atleast three data signals.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the delaymodule comprises a plurality of delay controllers and a plurality ofsamplers, wherein individual delay controllers are paired withindividual samplers to cause delay of respective individual data signalsof the at least three data signals.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe pattern dependent delay circuit is to adaptively change the delaysof the at least three data signals before the transmitter transmits theat least three data signals to reduce a switching jitter associated withthe at least three data signals.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe pattern dependent delay circuit is to reduce a channel physicallayer (C-PHY) switching jitter.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe transmitter is a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) channelphysical layer (C-PHY) compliant transmitter.
 11. A system, comprising:a processor; a controller coupled to the processor to output dataprocessed by the processor; a transmitter coupled to the controller totransmit the data using at least three data signals, wherein individualdata signals of the at least three data signals switch between at leastthree logic states; and a pattern dependent delay circuit, coupled tothe transmitter, to detect a switching pattern of the at least threedata signals and adaptively reduce a switching jitter based on thedetected switching pattern.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein thepattern dependent delay circuit is to reduce a channel physical layer(C-PHY) switching jitter by changing delays on the at least three datasignals before the transmitter transmits the at least three datasignals.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the transmitter is a MIPI®channel physical layer (C-PHY) compliant transmitter.
 14. A method,comprising: detecting a switching pattern of a plurality of data signalson respective wires; causing a delay on one or more of the plurality ofdata signals based on the detected switching pattern; and transmittingthe plurality of data signals.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein thedetecting comprises detecting a logic state of individual data signalsof the plurality of data signals, wherein the logic state is one of atleast three possible logic states.
 16. The method of claim 14, whereinthe detecting comprises detecting the switching pattern based on a priorlogic state and a current logic state of the plurality of data signals.17. The method of claim 14, wherein the causing the delay is responsiveto a detection that each of the plurality of data signals switches to adifferent logic state from a prior logic state.
 18. The method of claim14, wherein the causing comprises changing delays on each of theplurality of data signals based on the switching pattern.
 19. The methodof claim 14, wherein the causing comprises causing different delays oneach of the plurality of data signals based on the switching pattern.20. The method of claim 14, wherein the causing comprises reducing achannel physical layer (C-PHY) switching jitter.
 21. The method of claim20, wherein the causing comprises reducing the channel physical layer(C-PHY) switching jitter by adjusting a switching timing for theplurality of data signals based on the delay.
 22. The method of claim14, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting the plurality ofdata signals compliant with MIPI® channel physical layer (C-PHY).